SYNOPSIS: In 1863, Civil War is raging in the United States. Victorine Meurent is posing nude, in Paris, for paintings that will be heralded as the beginning of modern art: Manet's Olympia and Picnic on the Grass. However, Victorine's persistent desire is not to be a model but to be a painter herself.
In order to live authentically, she finds the strength to flout the expectations of her parents, bourgeois society, and the dominant male artists (whom she knows personally) while never losing her capacity for affection, kindness, and loyalty.
Possessing both the incisive mind of a critic and the intuitive and unconventional impulses of an artist, Victorine and her survival instincts are tested in 1870, when the Prussian army lays siege to Paris and rat becomes a culinary delicacy. Drēma Drudge's powerful first novel, Victorine, not only gives this determined and gifted artist back to us but also recreates an era of important transition into the modern world.
MY REVIEW: Drudge’s novel, provides an intimate look into the life of French model Victorine Meurent, a Parisian artist born in a time where women artists were not taken seriously. The only way to express her love of art was to pose for male painters.
A muse to Edourd Monet, the book gives the backstory to each of his paintings. A lifelong relationship is formed between the two and although it is clear Manet loved Victorine, maybe even respected her, he continued to remind her of her inferiority and never quite allowed her to reach his level of class, friends or other artists. Throughout the entire book, Victorine surrounded herself around selfish artists, and gave everything but her blood to be included in that circle. All she wanted was for the men to acknowledge that she was not just a model, but a painter, like them. But even when her work was accepted into the Salon, a place that rejected Manet’s work several times, he still could not give her the praise she deserved.
Drudge blends Paris culture, Art, music, fashion and sexuality into a very colorful life of Victorine Meurent. Had she been born a man, we probably wouldn't remember her, but a woman screaming so loud to be both seen and heard, she's left quite an impression in history.
As I read the story, I kept thinking how one dimensional the characters are. One minute they're talking, the next someone's crying, then everyone's laughing again. The relationships are never fleshed out, just suddenly people are having sex then everyone's married…or maybe they were married but still having sex with everyone else…it happens so quickly, it’s tough to keep up, but eventually, I learned the rhythm of the authors writing style, and even grew to appreciate what she was doing here. Where personal details and emotions are lacking, the description of paintings are exuberant. I think the author did this on purpose. Victorine constantly dwells on the fact that she can feel nothing for anyone or anything but art. The writing style supports that. Her marriage is brushed over because it's secondary to her. The days spent as Monet's muse are plentiful because that's what matters to her. A very well written, unique take on the art history of Paris.
In order to live authentically, she finds the strength to flout the expectations of her parents, bourgeois society, and the dominant male artists (whom she knows personally) while never losing her capacity for affection, kindness, and loyalty.
Possessing both the incisive mind of a critic and the intuitive and unconventional impulses of an artist, Victorine and her survival instincts are tested in 1870, when the Prussian army lays siege to Paris and rat becomes a culinary delicacy. Drēma Drudge's powerful first novel, Victorine, not only gives this determined and gifted artist back to us but also recreates an era of important transition into the modern world.
MY REVIEW: Drudge’s novel, provides an intimate look into the life of French model Victorine Meurent, a Parisian artist born in a time where women artists were not taken seriously. The only way to express her love of art was to pose for male painters.
A muse to Edourd Monet, the book gives the backstory to each of his paintings. A lifelong relationship is formed between the two and although it is clear Manet loved Victorine, maybe even respected her, he continued to remind her of her inferiority and never quite allowed her to reach his level of class, friends or other artists. Throughout the entire book, Victorine surrounded herself around selfish artists, and gave everything but her blood to be included in that circle. All she wanted was for the men to acknowledge that she was not just a model, but a painter, like them. But even when her work was accepted into the Salon, a place that rejected Manet’s work several times, he still could not give her the praise she deserved.
Drudge blends Paris culture, Art, music, fashion and sexuality into a very colorful life of Victorine Meurent. Had she been born a man, we probably wouldn't remember her, but a woman screaming so loud to be both seen and heard, she's left quite an impression in history.
As I read the story, I kept thinking how one dimensional the characters are. One minute they're talking, the next someone's crying, then everyone's laughing again. The relationships are never fleshed out, just suddenly people are having sex then everyone's married…or maybe they were married but still having sex with everyone else…it happens so quickly, it’s tough to keep up, but eventually, I learned the rhythm of the authors writing style, and even grew to appreciate what she was doing here. Where personal details and emotions are lacking, the description of paintings are exuberant. I think the author did this on purpose. Victorine constantly dwells on the fact that she can feel nothing for anyone or anything but art. The writing style supports that. Her marriage is brushed over because it's secondary to her. The days spent as Monet's muse are plentiful because that's what matters to her. A very well written, unique take on the art history of Paris.
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